Unfolding Destiny

Shoghi Effendi

We Bahá’ís firmly believe that it is possible, if we have the
right spirit, to make our stumbling blocks stepping-stones to
progress. You have already, through at last facing yourself and
acknowledging that you have both failed and erred in managing
your life so far, set your feet on the right path. But now this new
and spiritual condition in you is going to be proved—and the
450
proving, the testing, will surely consist of the way you determine
to take your punishment.

Life is based on laws: physical, man-made, and spiritual. As
you have broken the laws of the society in which you live, you
will have to stand up like a man and take your punishment. The
spirit in which you do this is the most important thing, and
constitutes a great opportunity for you. He (the Guardian)
advises you to turn your face towards the future, to realise that
when you are set free you have loving and helpful friends to go
to, an upright job awaiting you, and you can also become active
in serving our glorious Faith. So really everything lies before
you. But at present, until your sentence is up, you must live
within yourself in a way not to spoil the new future awaiting
you. You must not become bitter—for after all you are only
reaping what you planted. Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, through
no crime of their own, spent the better part of their lives in exile
and imprisoned, but they never became embittered although
they were the victims of injustice. You, on the other hand, are
the victim of injustice which you have inflicted on yourself—therefore you certainly have no right to be bitter towards the
world.

He urges you to grasp firmly the teachings of our Faith, the
love of your family and many Bahá’í friends, to put the past
behind entirely, realising that it can do you no more harm; on
the contrary, through changing you and making you spiritually
aware, this very past can be a means of enriching your life in the
future! He will certainly ardently pray for your happiness, your
victory over yourself, and that you may become an exemplary
and active Bahá’í.